


Begging and Praying

by AntonSweetie



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Animal Death, Gen, i scoured for hours to get accurate timing and dialogue, was it worth it who knows!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 03:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18402380
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AntonSweetie/pseuds/AntonSweetie
Summary: It was an accident. He tried his best. [BOTW Angst, selectively mute Link]





	Begging and Praying

It was an accident. 

Link’s heart stopped as Dipper collapsed with a pitiful whinny and a thud onto the still still wet ground, glossy black eyes staring right into Link’s. 

It was an accident. 

They were ambushed on their way from Zora’s Domain, finishing a task to find all the stone monuments. Link got a new diamond in his pocket to give to Isha for a new diamond circlet - a powerful ward against the Guardians. Everything was fine outside of the sudden downpour.

Until the screech of Lizalfos cut into his mind. They often nested on the path out of the mountains, but they shouldn’t have been here--

The blood moon. 

Link clicked his tongue as he readied his Knight’s Bow - recently lifted off of a Moblin a while back. It was still in fine condition, and would hold against the chill of the ice arrow notched. He raised it, taking a deep breath until the Lizalfos stopped moving for a heartbeat of a second. 

When he released, three things happened. One, Link exhaled like he was taught to, visualizing his breath carrying the arrow to his target. Two, the Lizalfos was frozen in time, reptilian body fighting against the urge to hibernate in the bitter cold. And three, another Lizalfos came up behind, tri-boomerang slicing into Dipper’s rear and shooting him forward. 

Dipper’s bucking jolted Link off his back, shoulder colliding into the ground as he rolled to a stop midway down the small hill in the path. He groaned, picking himself up and witnessing the brutality of survival. 

Lizalfos surrounded the dark bay horse, cackling and slicing the beast into the rough-hewn pikes protecting their frozen comrade. To them, Dipper was but another source of food in this colorful but barren world. He was a nameless horse who had some fancy armor on they could throw away later. 

Link would never forgive them. 

He roared as he threw his entire weight into his almost busted Royal Claymore, injured shoulder screaming in protest alongside the dying lizards. It ached with each heavy swing and with each reverberation against the ground, but it didn’t matter. Dipper was still panicking, still trying to run forward, and still digging his wounds deeper against the splintered wood. He had to save him. 

When the lizalfos all fell or fled, Link dropped his weapon and stumbled over to Dipper. He shushed quietly, one hand patting the strong neck while the other feverishly tugged on his reigns to pull him away. It took Link hopping on his back and forcibly calming him like he had to with wild steeds for him to finally relent and walk down the hill.

 

They reached a cooking pot (guarded only by an easily dispatched Lizalfos) Link hopped down and guided Dipper to the fire to dry off. It was enough that he was bleeding so terribly, but with the rain it was even worse. They lucked out that they made it underneath the overcropping so quickly. 

Link had just finished scavenging the crates for any useful supplies and tossing the explosive barrel into the river so it wouldn’t explode in the middle of the night when the worst was yet to come. 

The earth under him shuddered with the unholy magic that brought forth the creatures of the dark. Skeletal hand after skeletal hand burst from the ground, mud washing off of bleached bones as Stalfos clawed their way back to the living world. Their glowing yellow eyes mocked Link as they took one shuddering step forward and merely brushed against Dipper. 

Dipper, for all his loyalty, did not go down in the heat of battle. It was the blistering heat of the fire licking his legs and the ugly snap of his neck when he fell that finally wrenched his spirit out of him. 

The Stalfos were dead before Link even knew what happened .

_ Oh no. No no no no no no no no. No no no no no no. Dipper-- Dipper no no no no-- _

Worn vocal chords fought against Link’s voice. “Dipper… Please no…” His hands frantically patted the flames out, blood staining his fingertips as he inspected the wounds he was too late to fix. 

His throat twisted into knots as his hands shook uncontrollably in the soft, dark oak-colored hair. He had to do something-- anything-- he would do anything. Dipper was his only real friend, the only one who was by his side since they met. He couldn’t lose another friend.

Link gasped out a quiet name. “The Horse God.” But, he reasoned with himself as he stared down at the Sheika Slate’s map, he was days away. It’d take too long to get there. He had to do something  _ now _ . Think. Think think think think think. 

By the goddess, he could fucking  _ teleport _ . 

 

In a flash, a blue waterfall of light settled over him, whisking him away to the one shrine close enough to the Malany Spring: Ka’o Makagh Shrine next to Highland Stable. 

He shook the water out of his hair, unceremoniously dropping all of his gear but for a single Gerudo Scimitar. He couldn’t afford anything weighing him down as he lept from the small ridge and bolted towards where he knew the one real god in this world lived.

After an hour stretched into eternity, Link spotted the bridge. Close. He was so close. He could go further. No matter how much his lungs screamed or he tasted blood in his mouth or his shoulder winced in it’s socket, he had to push onwards. Each moment he spent not sprinting as much as he could take was a moment he wasted. 

He all but collapsed at the foot of the giant lotus, hand reaching out and touching the still waters of the spring. 

At the contact, two disembodied hands shot forth from the water, dragging the detached puppet body up into the world. Malanya had arrived. 

Their horse mask jingled as it twitched side to side, their multi-layered voice ringing in Link’s ears. “Why have you sought me out? Surely no ill has befallen your beloved, faithful steeds.”

Before they could even continue, Link’s exhausted, blood-covered hands cut them off.

 _Dipper._ He shakily signed, unable to move as fast as his brain could explain. _Lizalfos. Stalfos. I tried to save him. I really did. I tried, God Malanya. I did. But I was too late and the fire had gotten him and he fell and--_

“Enough. I shall be the judge.” Malanya held up one large hand in front of Link’s face.“Hrm. What you say is the truth. Worry not, this happens from time to time. He knows that you did what you could to protect him. Allow me to bring him back for you.”

Malanya’s hands and mask danced about as iridescent purple fog billowed up and around them, unseen drums tapping out an ancient rhythm. Their body parts spun and spun, all lurching towards Link at the zenith of the beat and stopping a breath away from his face. 

Metallic clanking settled behind him as Link whipped around, eyes glistening tears as he launched himself into Dipper’s unblemished, soft hair. He barely let himself turn enough to thank Malanya repeatedly. As he did, the horse god flew close to him, clawed nail touching his forehead. 

“Be more alert in the future. I am not one to forgive the death of a companion so easily.” In their usual odd way, their multi-layered laugh echoed in his mind. “I jest. As your companion has told me, you are not one to forgive death so easily either.” With that, their form collapsed back into the spring, the quiet chirps of crickets the only noise Link could hear anymore. 

He nuzzled his face into his companion’s mane once more, the warmth of his friend easing any exhaustion he may have felt.


End file.
